7 Causes of Male Infertility

National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with Stanford University, recently studied and explained the causes of male infertility, highlighting how especially age plays a key factor.

Beside that, working a hard job and excess use of medications can heavily affect fertility in men.

But of course, there are several other causes, not always well known.

In fact, male infertility is still a little mystery.

1. Male Infertility Increases with Age

With age many things change in our body, and male fertility is one of them, even though it decreases slower than other aspects.

In fact, just think that Charlie Chaplin had his 11th child at age 73. This is just to give an idea of how male infertility depends on age, yes, but not as much as fertility in women.

But still, the National Institutes of Health experts insist that age is one of the main causes of male infertility. And Charlie Chaplin's story is the classic exception that proves the rule.

2. Too Much Work is Bad (Even for That)

Basically, too much physical exercise, and in this case we're talking about a stressful job, can raise the level of steroidal hormones which cause a decrease in testosterone.

In particular, the study reveals that among those with a stressful job, 13% of them had low sperm count. Of those with a more relaxing job, only 6% resulted having low sperm count.

3. Oligospermia

The American study examined 456 men with an average age of 32, and with a long term romantic relationship where they were not using any birth control method.

The researchers analyzed their reproductive history, lifestyle, sperm quality and pace of work.

In reality, the causes of male infertility may also be obstructive (when the patient is unable to flow sperm during ejaculation).

But the US study examined only the cases of oligospermia and azoospermia, and in general cases of low sperm quality (determined only by the sperm count, shape and motility).

All this assuming that the minim sperm count (considered acceptable) is 40 million.

4. Hypertension

Another important factor in male infertility resulted to be hypertension, as confirmed by the higher percentage of hypertensive subjects with low sperm count, compared to the non-hypertensive percentage.

Talking of numbers, it's 21% vs. 17%. Not THAT much, but enough to consider hypertension one of the causes of male infertility.

5. Medications

Also medications and drugs are part of the causes of male infertility, when used for long periods of time.

Sperm count and quality, in fact, highly depend on drug assumption.

This is another good reason why we should take medications only when strictly necessary.

Unfortunately, I know of people that start taking pills for any smallest symptom.

6. Smoking, Cirrhosis, Malnutrition and Pollution

As always, smoking is always a factor, and a bad one, for lungs, throat, teeth, blood pressure...and also fertility in men.

But it's been discovered that also malnutrition and pollution can affect fertility. Think of how infertility in men increased a lot in the last decades, when pollution increased.

7. Lifestyle

Lifestyle also affects fertility in men, and this is somehow a good news because there is at least something you can do about it.

For example, try to choose a relaxing lifestyle over stress and you will probably see big improvements in your fertility.

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